Did You Miss the Super, Blood, Blue Moon? Here’s a Video and Some Pics!

Wednesday morning we ended the first month of January with an exciting celestial triple header. It was a Super, Blue, Blood Moon. All the fun in the sky happened over Sioux Falls just before sunrise Wednesday (January 31).

What does that mean exactly?

A Supermoon is when the Moon is full while also being at or near its closest point to Earth.

A Blue Moon is a second full Moon in a calendar month. We'll have another Blue Moon at the end of March.

A Blood Moon is a nickname for the Moon during a total lunar eclipse.

A lunar eclipse "...can occur only when the sun, Earth, and moon are aligned (in "syzygy") exactly, or very closely so, with the Earth in the middle. Hence, a lunar eclipse can occur only the night of a full moon." -Wikipedia

All three of these event happening on the same day is what makes this a big deal for sky-watchers. In face the last time there was a combo Blue/Blood Moon that was visible in the Americas was in March 1866. However, that full moon was not a supermoon.